Cutting Room Floor
by angellwings
Summary: A collection of deleted or alternate moments that didn't make it in to my Lyatt fanfics for whatever reason. [lyatt] [collection]
1. All In

**A/N: **Hello! So I did a poll on twitter asking of people would be interested in seeing deleted scenes from some of my fanfics.

Sometimes, the characters will derail the fic from the plot and bog it down with emotion. Or sometimes I try a plot device that doesn't work. When that happens I axe the scene but I always keep it. Occasionally the scraps show up in another fic or two. There are also times where a fic is planned with the best of intentions and you sketch it out with rough dialogue. Then when that fic never materializes you have a random bit of dialogue you'll likely never use.

All of these bits and bobs now sit in my google docs, wasting away. So I ran a poll to see if anyone would be interested in reading them. The response was an overwhelming "Yes" vote.

I am going to try and post these in chronological order of the story they came from. We'll see how it goes. Hopefully, you guys will enjoy them!

Happy reading!

* * *

_Cutting Room Floor_

_by angellwings_

* * *

_All In: Chapter 11_

_Alternate Ending_

_Explanation: _This was one of those times where Lucy and Wyatt were derailing the action with words and emotions and confessions when all I wanted to do was get to the kiss. It was bogging down the chapter way too much. So I stopped took this chunk out and then started again. Ultimately, the result was what you saw posted in the fic. But here is how it could have happened.

* * *

She wrung her hands in front of her and took a deep breath. "What did the medic say?"

"No big deal. Bruised ribs. Just need to take painkillers while they heal. Nothing else to report," he told her with a warm smile.

"Oh, well that's good, I guess. I mean considering we found you under a passenger car _wall _after two trains collided at high speeds," Lucy said with a shaky sigh.

He took one step closer to her. He wanted to reach out and take her hands but he didn't. "I'm right here, Lucy. I'm fine. It's gonna take a lot more than a trainwreck to take me out. And a lot more than Emma Whitmore too, for that matter."

She must have noticed his hand twitch and reach for her because her eyes immediately moved from his face to his hands. She looked regretful and sad. Her eyes shined with unshed tears and he wondered where her mind had gone now.

"Lucy?" He asked worriedly.

"I'm sorry," she replied in a voice that was barely above a whisper.

He narrowed his eyes on her and spoke up in shock. "For what?"

"I'm-I'm hurting you," she told him. "Everytime you want to reach for me, you stop yourself. I seek you out to talk and then I don't. I pull you closer and then I push you away. You tell me you love me and I _can't say it back_. You've done everything you can and you've been so patient and I want to say the words. _I do_. But they get stuck in my throat and I-I'm sorry."

What? Where was this coming from? She had nothing to apologize for. _Nothing_.

"Yes, Lucy, it does hurt but that's not your fault," he assured her. "That's mine. I did this to myself. I made a choice that I regret and I have to deal with the consequences. And as for those three huge words, there is honestly _no rush_. If you can't say them right now, then I understand. The last thing I want is for you try and force it or fake it. You don't have to love me right now or even years from now as long as you let me keep trying to win you back."

She placed a hand on his chest and gently pushed him back into the room. She closed the door behind them and then brought the hand from his chest up to his face. Her fingers grazed the small cut over his eye and then the knot on his cheek. She took her time as she gently ran the pads of her fingers over the wounds.

"That's not fair to you, though," Lucy said as her concerned eyes roamed his face. "You almost died twice today and the thought of you dying before I was able to return this crazy ridiculously unconditional love you have for me just felt so…**. **It felt so _wrong_."

"The only thing I care about is that _you _know how I feel," Wyatt replied as he leaned into her touch. "If anything happens to me then that's enough. I was an idiot who left you to question that for much longer than I should have."

"Your sense of calm is super annoying," Lucy told him with a soft smile.

It was a welcome reminder of old times, before he screwed everything up. He smiled warmly at her and then turned his head to kiss the palm of her hand. He was bending his own rules but he'd allow it since she reached out for him first.

"Take all the time you need, Lucy, I'm not going anywhere."

The smile fell from her face and she scoffed. "Not by choice anyway."

"Lucy," he said as he closed his eyes briefly and shook his head. The words hurt him to hear as much as they probably hurt her to say. "You can't do that to yourself. You can't think about all the ways the job could go wrong. You've never done that and if you start now, you'll never make it through. We're the good guys. The good guys win."

"Good guys win?" Lucy asked him as she removed her hand from his face. "That's what you're going with? Even when you and I both know that's not always true?"

"One little lie to yourself isn't a completely bad idea," he told her. "I refuse to go into something telling myself I'm going to lose. If you start to believe that then you definitely won't win. So, _ma'am_," he said with an encouraging smile. "The good guys win. That's my story and I'm sticking to it."

The grim look she'd given him earlier gave way to a small affectionate smile. "You're too much sometimes, you know that?"

He chuckled and nodded. "The feelings mutual."

Apparently, he kept saying the wrong thing because once again Lucy's face went from soft to hard in a matter of seconds. He didn't know what to say anymore to try and help her. It wasn't as if he could make her return his feelings and he wouldn't want to, but seeing her struggle with it so much was painful.

"Lucy," he finally said with a thick swallow. "What can I do? What can I do to help you?"

"What?" She asked as her gaze snapped to his.

"I don't know what to say to make any of this better. I don't know what you want or what you need. So, all I'm doing right now is standing here watching you wallow in some kind of pain I can't name and it's driving me crazy. I need something to do. Some way to help," He pleaded. "Tell me what to do."

Her wide disbelieving eyes stayed locked on his for several moments. He wasn't sure how much time had passed, it felt like an eternity, but he didn't time it so who really knew?

She bit her bottom lip, took a deep breath, and her next words nearly knocked him out. He was not prepared to hear those words leave her lips in that particular moment.

"Kiss me," she said as she exhaled. Her voice was airy and nervous, but firm. She wasn't changing her mind. She wasn't asking him in a weak moment either.

But he didn't move. He couldn't move, actually. He had been so focused on waiting for her to make the next move that he didn't think about her _asking_ him to make a move. It threw him for a loop and he was having trouble finding his footing.

"Wyatt," she repeated as she took one more step toward him. There was barely any space between his chest and hers now. She met his eyes and repeated her request in a steadier voice. "_Kiss me._"

Well, he certainly didn't need to be told more than twice.

One hand found her cheek, and his thumb softly caressed her ivory skin, and the other found the small of her back. His eyes met hers with concern. He was giving her one last chance to back out in case this wasn't what she really wanted, but she showed no signs of weakness. She looked confident and eager, and he found himself smiling fondly at her instead of closing the distance between them. He wanted to take it all in. He'd been waiting for another kiss since 1941 and he wasn't going to waste his chance. He used his hand on the small of her back to pull her flush against him and then used the hand on her cheek to pull her lips toward his.


	2. Smoke & Sun

**A/N: **You're getting 2 for one with this post. The first is super short and that didn't seem enough to post alone.

Happy reading!

Angellwings

* * *

_Up In Smoke_

_First Attempt at a Scene_

_Explanation: _This was my first pass at Lucy and Wyatt's talk after they're reunited. I didn't get that far into it before I axed it. Initially I had this idea that I wanted them to fight and I kept trying to steer them that way. They were refusing to cooperate so I deleted it and tried a different angle that I still think was better.

* * *

He thought he was making progress. He thought he could _show _her how much he needed her, but her hand that had been slowly traveling up his chest stopped and on his shoulder and pushed. Pushed _away_. Away from his touch and away from his out of control emotions. Just..._away _from him.

"Wyatt." Her tone was sorrowful. Her anger now replaced by sadness. "You can't just _touch_ me and expect the wounds to close."

"Can't I?" He asked as he studied her still closed eyes. "You're saying that if I were to _worship _every inch of you, every bit of your body, right now that wouldn't go a long way toward assuring you of how I feel? Or, more accurately, how I _don't - can't - _feel without you?"

* * *

_Sun, Sun, Sun (Here It Comes)_

_Alternate Scene_

_Explanation: _Before I decided on the video confessional ending to the Liv fic I tried many things. A playlist left behind with a song for each character was one attempt that I couldn't make work and this one was another. I tried it in an attempt to squeeze in one extra moment with Lucy, but in the end it was too clunky and I couldn't find my way to an ending that felt complete so I scrapped it. The ladies in the Angst Brigade helped me decide on the video angle in the end and that was for the best, but I do genuinely love Lucy and Liv in this scene.

* * *

Before coming to the bunker that day, Liv found something in her apartment that she thought she'd lost. When you moved as much as she did things tended to fall through the cracks. She thought the black leather bound journal currently tucked under her arm was one of those things. She couldn't understand why she felt the need to bring it with her. Not then, but she did now. _She knew_.

Rufus, Lucy, and Wyatt were preparing the Lifeboat and themselves for a trip in time and when they came back, she'd be gone. It wasn't death, exactly, but it was close. She should be scared or sad or angry..._something_, but she wasn't. Her life had never been that great. It had been lonely and full of bad luck. It was not a life she would wish on anyone else.

Not even herself. How many times had she wished for a fresh start? Her thoughts drifted back to the journal because only the journal knew the answer to that question. Documented inside it was every time she'd wished to start over.

There was a two year old little girl on a front stoop in 1981 who hadn't had the chance to break any laws or have anyone break her heart. If she could save her any of the pain written in her journal then she would willingly fade away. How many people could say they had a real chance to rewrite their own story?

She was lucky.

She found a quiet corner and turned to the last page. Her last entry had been the day before she'd started her job at Homeland Security. The day before she met _them_. They deserved to be a part of this journal. They gave her a home after forty years of rambling. They needed to know that. They needed to know everything she couldn't say.

So, she wrote.

Each new page was addressed to another member of the team. She started with Mason and finished with Wyatt. Seven new entries in total. Seven confessions from her soul.

She closed the journal and made her way to the silo and when she arrived at the Lifeboat she found Lucy sitting on the steps.

"Hey," Lucy said softly. Liv could see the sadness in her eyes and knew she was already mourning, probably considering Liv another loss to time travel like her sister or any number of historical events.

"Hey," Liv replied. "Can you do me a favor?"

"Anything," Lucy replied immediately.

"Can you put this on the Lifeboat for me?" Liv asked as she held out the black leatherbound journal.

Lucy looked at the journal as if it might bite her and then furrowed her brow. "Is this a joke? Did Flynn put you up to this?"

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Liv said with a furrowed brow. "This is my journal. From before I met any of you. Why? Does Flynn have a journal?"

Lucy sighed in relief and then shook her head. "No, sorry. Just - it's a _thing_ from years ago." Lucy took the journal from her and then smiled pleasantly. "So, this is life as you saw it, huh?"

Liv nodded and then smiled sadly. "Not the happiest story ever put to paper, but the ending's pretty good. She meets this group of people that somehow manage to burrow their way under skin and become her family, only to find out...they _literally are_ her family. And to top it all off, she gets a second chance at life - at having love from the very beginning." Liv paused and then rolled her eyes at herself. "Damn, you people have made me soft."

Lucy laughed lightly and held the journal against her chest. "I'll make sure to put it somewhere safe."

"When you all get back, and you're the only ones who remember...there are letters in the back for everyone, including you and Rufus and...Wyatt," Liv told her. "The others won't know who I am but I want them to know what they meant to me. Maybe they can eventually be that for little Liv too."


	3. Potential Season 3 Scene

_Angst Brigade Fanfic Season Three_

_Rough Draft - Potential Scene_

_Explanation: _Some of you followed me and my friends as we attempted to work on a collaborative fanfic season three. For most of it we only got as far as the outlining stage (those outlines are available on the "angst_brigade" twitter account as a pinned tweet) but I did write one potential scene that was a rough sketch of some hopeful dialogue for episode 3.04, which we titled "Kinner Field". The episode starts with Noah offering a truce on behalf of all the illustrious bloodlines of Rittenhouse. Characters are indicated with their first initial (N is Noah, L is Lucy, W is Wyatt, and R is Rufus.)

* * *

N: "I didn't know then, Lucy. I wasn't let in on what was happening at Mason until after your father was arrested. I wish I had known because now I see why we didn't work. I could have been considerate of the circumstances if I had known. But now we have a second chance. We can fix it."

L: "Fix it?"

N: "You and me. Rittenhouse. All of it. Our secrets are out in the open now. Our causes can align."

L: "No, they can't, Noah. I know Rittenhouse too well for that now. I would never help any version of Rittenhouse."

N: "Fine. You don't yet believe. I get it. I can't blame you. Your mother waited too long to tell you and from where you stand I'm sure you see us in a very unflattering light. But you understand what Emma eliminating the bloodlines means, don't you?"

Knowing silence from Lucy.

N: "And even if you don't agree with our cause surely you care about saving your own life?"

Stony unconcerned silence that Noah understands immediately.

N: "Or maybe you don't. Okay, if you don't care about your own life then maybe your teammates will. After all, isn't it the Master Sergeant's job to protect you?"

W: "What the hell are you talking about, Doc?"

N: "Ah, he speaks. I assume you are smart enough to put together that Lucy comes from two Rittenhouse bloodlines, right?"

R: "Yeah, we got that, ER. We spent a good portion of the last two months chasing her mother. What's your point?"

N: "My point is, if Emma is going after bloodlines then Lucy's life is at risk from either end. The Cahills are influential and the Prestons...well, more so the Keynes are royalty. The original legacy and the only legacy that matters."

W: "What the hell are you talking about? Do you even know?"

N: "What? You mean she hasn't told you? Oh that's right, she's ashamed of her legacy. Of course she hasn't told you. Should I do then honors, Lucy?"

L: "Don't you—"

N: "Lucy is the last living descendent of David Rittenhouse, the founding father of our organization. You all met him and killed him I believe."

Stunned silence as Rufus and Wyatt give Lucy worried glances.

N: "So you can see how Emma eliminating the bloodlines might be a problem for your historian. Any day now Emma WILL try to wipe the Keynes, Prestons, or Cahills from history and when she does Lucy will no longer exist."

L: "I will not help Rittenhouse. Threat of my life is not enough to sway me."

N: "Maybe not, but it might be enough to sway THEM." *motions to Rufus and Wyatt* "I'll leave the three of you to discuss your options."

W: "We're doing this."

L: "What? Wyatt, _no_."

R: "Lucy, did you hear him? You could cease to exist!"

L: "And how exactly would that be different from my life now?"

R: "You can't be serious?"

L: "We live entirely separate from the world anyway! My colleagues all probably think I'm dead. I can't leave the bunker. My sister's gone. My mother's dead. As long as I'm in the Lifeboat when History shifts I don't really see how much changes. It's not as though I have an actual life anymore."

W: "This is different, Lucy."

L: "How? I mean what exactly do I have to show for my life? None of my choices were really my own. My mother set the path and I followed it. I'm sure that if I were to disappear barely anything would change. The team would have a different historian. I'm not the only one in the world and I'm hardly the best qualified candidate for the job. You would be fine."

W: "Fine? We'd be fine? Is that really what you think? Lucy, you're more than just our historian and all of our missions would have gone FUBAR without you. 1919, Lincoln, The World's Fair, The Alamo..."

Awkward silence as she pointedly avoids looking at either teammate.

W: "No, I'm sorry. Noah's right. If you're not going to care about your life then we will. We came close enough to losing one of us already and I refuse to let that happen again. We're doing this. He has access to intel we are going to need if we plan on stopping Emma."

L: "No! Wyatt, it's my life to risk. This should be my decision. Not yours."

R: "No. Not this time, Lucy. You matter. Everything you have done for this team and this fight matters. The three of us are the reason we have gotten as far as we have. This team works because of _us_. Not just Wyatt. Not just me. But all of us. And if you won't save yourself then...I'm sorry but this vote this one time does not have to be unanimous. Majority rules. And Majority votes not let Emma erase you from history."


	4. WYHIMF & Nightlight

**A/N: **Two for one, again. Enjoy!

Happy reading!

Angellwings

* * *

_What Your Heart Is Made For_

_Chapter 18, Alternate Dialogue_

_Explanation: _The confession and kiss scene in chapter 18 of my high school AU was nipped and tucked a few times. I included a few too many details or too many intense emotions that felt too old for their ages. They weighed down the narrative on my first two or three passes so I took them out and tried again (and again and again). Here is the removed dialogue.

* * *

"I just need _you. _If you like me and I like you then that's all that should matter. You said that what I want for myself matters. Shouldn't you follow your own advice? And you don't _know_ that you'll lose me. I have some say in that, you know? No one can _take me_ from you. I would have to make that choice and right now that is _not_ a choice I would make."

When he turned back to face her his half smirk seemed bitter, but there was concern in his eyes. He continued talking as he made his way back to the table. She knew he was hesitant but she wasn't really sure why. She knew he was about to enlighten her.

"Are you still going to think that when your mom tells you how much she disapproves of me? Or when your friends ask you what the hell you're thinking dating a guy like me? When Principal Christopher lectures us on blurring the lines between the mentorship and dating? How about when my idiot buddies are treating you like the piece of ass they think you are?" He spoke at a frenzied pace and in a harsh tone but his eyes were concerned. He was right earlier, she didn't fully understand. She flinched with every question he asked. "If we move forward from here, other people are involved. You're the nice girl, I'm the bad boy. It'll be like dating in a fishbowl and the only people who will actually want us to be together will be _us_. Are you ready for _that_?"

"I am if you are," Lucy told him as she stood from the table. She stopped in front of him and held his gaze "We're the only people who _have _to want us together and the only people who matter in this decision. Not my mom, not Principal Christopher, and not my friends or yours."

* * *

She knew she was young but this kiss…

This kiss had to be the best kiss she'd gotten to date. There was Jonas, there was Todd from her leadership conference last winter break, and there was one sloppy uninvited goodnight kiss from Noah. Wyatt kissed like none of them.

* * *

_Nightlight_

_Deleted Dialogue_

_Explanation: _I took this dialogue out because it had the potential to spin this story off into a much darker place and I wanted Nightlights to be short and sweet and light on the true hard angst.

* * *

"I—I feel like I've lost everything. My sister, my career, my father in a way — my mother . The life I knew before the Hindenburg is just... gone ."

At those words Wyatt quietly reached over and took one of her hands in his. He breathed in and out deeply and studied her fingers. He kept quiet with a twisted up yet thoughtful expression. "You didn't deserve that."

She squeezed his hand and smiled sadly at him. "And you didn't deserve to lose Jessica."

He snorted bitterly and rolled his eyes before releasing her hand. "Yes, I did. I was an ass. But _she_ didn't deserve to die. Not because of me. Not because I failed her."

"It wasn't your fault, Wyatt. You couldn't have known. What could you have done differently? Manhandled her back into the car? We both know that's not you. She was a victim and it's a tragedy, but she was a grown woman who made a choice," Lucy said sternly as she reached between them and took his hand again. "If it had been me and from where ever I was I heard you talking about me like this, I'd find a way to haunt you forever for diminishing my capacity to think for myself. She got out on her own and stayed out on her own. No one, not even her, could have expected you to foresee the future. It was a tragedy, yes, but it wasn't _your fault_."


	5. On a Night Like Tonight

_On a Night Like Tonight_

_Alternate Scenes_

_Explanation: _This is another one of those times where I included too many details and then struggled with portraying the appropriate emotion. I was very concerned with this fic about making sure Wyatt's emotions were clearly understood. After talking with katertots and showing her the fic, I felt these scenes, or snippets of scenes, hindered that understanding so I removed them and tried again. I liked the second result much better, though I did still use some of my original pass in the final version.

* * *

"Wait," Wyatt interrupts with a furrowed brow. He points at Noah with narrowed eyes, trying to piece it all together. "You thought she broke up with you for me?" He turns to Lucy, not quite sure he's understanding and scratches the back of his neck awkwardly. "When was this?"

"After I stitched up your friend," Noah clarifies with a huff.

Right, he remembers now. That was the first time he had ever seen Noah. Lucy never even showed him a picture prior to that. He remembers feeling jealousy similar to what he felt with Jonas and probably being a lot more expressive about it. Those old confusing feelings resurface. Half of him was consciously aware he was falling in love with Lucy Preston and the other half of him was in complete denial. Doubts about having a right to be jealous at all, doubts about why he was so vocal about Lucy ending things with Noah, doubts about whether she should actually break it off with Noah or if he was just being a selfish asshole. Basically, _doubts_. Constant debilitating doubts.

He remembers Lucy telling him she'd ended it with Noah once the time travel chaos was supposedly wrapping up. But she never told him this part. She never told him that Noah suspected they were together. Not that it really matters, but it's at least..._interesting_.

* * *

"Lucy," he says as he reaches for her arms. She pulls back just a fraction, enough to be out of his reach. He sighs and lets his arms fall back to his sides. "I—"

"I know what you're going to say."

"No, you don't," Wyatt tells her with a stern glance and sigh. "Yeah, I'm pissed. You're right about that. But I'm not pissed _at you_. I'm pissed at Noah. I'm pissed at Jonas. I'm pissed at your mother for being the reason we had to show up here tonight. But I'm not pissed at _you_." He's not. None of what's happened tonight is her fault. But he would be lying if he didn't admit to feeling disconcerted by the realization that he doesn't know quite as much as he thinks he does. "Am I surprised by what Noah said? I'll admit, I'm pretty stunned. Mostly because just—seriously _that guy_? You barely knew him and honestly I always knew he had to be a douchebag. I know you thought differently, but one selfish asshole can easily spot another selfish asshole and I had that guy pegged from the first time you mentioned him. And you never told me about that. I thought, all this time, that you had told me everything there was to know about you and Noah. You certainly didn't seem to be keeping secrets back then. So, yes, this comes as a bit of a shock. But that's all it is. I'm not mad, at least not at you."

"When exactly was I supposed to have told you about that between running for our lives and you stealing the Lifeboat to save Jessica?" She asks in a flippant tone. The reminder hurts but it's the truth. "And why would I have told you about that? It was embarrassing."


	6. Leave Me (In the Dark)

**A/N: **This is the last one for now. The rest of these are posted Chronologically except for this one. I saved this one for last because it's my favorite and the one that I deliberated over the most. It hurt me to cut this out. I loved it so much. But when it doesn't serve the story you have to make the tough call. And THIS was a tough call.

If more deleted bits come up for future stories, I'll be sure to throw them up here for you guys to enjoy!

Happy reading!

Angellwings

* * *

_Leave Me (In the Dark)_

_Deleted Scene_

_Explanation: _Originally this scene was meant to establish the fated angle I was going for with this story. I wanted to make it clear that alternate Lucy and Wyatt had plans for a future together. But after I finished it, I realized it was too much detail and it halted the flow of the story. It felt too heavy handed. The reader didn't need all these details to understand my point. So I cut it out and edited around it, leaving it open to interpretation instead of spelling it out so completely. But I did use a bit of the dialogue in the published version of the ending.

* * *

"My place." He stated lamely.

It was just hitting him what was happening. She was following him home. She was going to see his apartment. His new apartment. That he really _really_ suspected other Wyatt bought for _her_. Not that he had any way to confirm that, but rekindling things with Jess hadn't lasted long enough for a new place. This Wyatt had been planning for a future with _someone_. The only pictures on his phone were of him and Lucy and Rufus. He had not seen any trace of a girlfriend in other Wyatt's life. So, really, if he looked at just the evidence there was only one person that apartment could have been for. The only person Wyatt knew who might need a walk in closet and a spa tub. Or an office with built in bookshelves. Or a wine rack in the kitchen. Wyatt didn't drink wine. Neither did Jessica. But Lucy did. Or she used to until they came back to this fucked up timeline.

"Wyatt?" Lucy asked worriedly. "You okay?"

"Yeah, fine," he said with a nervous gulp. "Just thinking. It's not the same apartment I had before," he told her. "Just so you know."

"I hope not. No offense but that place was awful," Lucy told him with a smirk.

"Yeah, well, it was supposed to be temporary," he told as he wrapped his arms around her waist and held her against him. "I wasn't planning on actually wanting to stay. Not until you."

"Which means the new place is a permanent place?" She asked hopefully.

"So permanent that other Wyatt _bought it_," Wyatt told her.

"What?" She asked in exaggerated surprise. "He put down roots and got a mortgage?"

"He did," Wyatt answered with a wide toothy smile. "And, you know, it's funny cause his new place has a lot of features that seem _very _Lucy Preston to me. It makes me wonder what other you and me were to each other."

"I've wondered too," she admitted. "Noah said something at the anniversary dinner that got me thinking. Something about me using your feelings for me for information? Given what I read in her mission reports I feel like that was how she soothed Noah's suspicions about other us."

"So, we were, what, having an affair?" He asked her skeptically.

"Not physically I don't think," Lucy answered. "Christopher mentioned she suspected there was something between us so maybe emotionally, yes? I'm pretty sure other me was in love with other you just based on mission reports and debriefs, honestly. I read them all to get ready for taking over her assignment."

"Do you think they talked about a future where they might have a shot?"

He didn't know why they were pondering this. It didn't really matter. Other them wasn't here. Somehow though, talking about it caused something warm and soft to unfurl in his chest. Like maybe if he and Lucy were meant to collide across multiple timelines it meant their timing wouldn't always be awful. That at some point it had to work out because someone or something kept throwing them together.

"I don't know," Lucy answered. "Do _you_ think they did?"

"I think this apartment is too well suited to you to be a purchase for myself and there is no other woman in other Wyatt's life. So, you do the math, Professor," Wyatt said as he moved one hand from her waist to the side of her face and slid it back into her brown waves.

He could see her eyes watering as the street lights reflected off of them but she was smiling broadly so the tears in her eyes must have been happy ones.

"He had hope that this assignment would eventually be over," Lucy stated with a nod.

"And when it was over, I don't think he was planning on wasting any time," Wyatt agreed.

"How do you know that?" She asked.

"Because I don't plan to waste any time with you either," he promised as he leaned forward and pressed a slow gentle kiss to her lips.

She pulled away from the kiss with a dazed expression and then cleared her throat, as she brought herself back to reality. "Well, I can't wait to see it."

"Follow me," he said as he pressed a quick kiss to her forehead. "And you will."

He turned, got into his jeep, and then waited for her to start her own car. He was careful on the drive back to keep an eye on her in his rearview. He had two assigned covered spaces and led her to them. Once they were parked she got out of her car and retrieved a blue duffel bag from her back seat. Wyatt took the bag from her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders as they walked into the building. It was a nice building with a door man and an elevator and a night watchman. One entrance in and out. Defendable is what Wyatt would call it if he were on an assignment. He had a strange feeling that how easily defended this place could be was another selling point for other him. If Lucy was going to live here then she would need to be somewhere safe.

If Lucy was going to live here…

Was she going to live here? When this all ended was that his next step? He would have to think about that. It sounded pretty wonderful actually, the idea of sharing space with Lucy. Space that wasn't a rusted tin can buried underground.

He unlocked his apartment door and motioned her inside.

Her eyes widened as she stepped inside and looked around the living room. The light blue walls and white moldings and hardwood floors looked original but the room had been recently renovated. Wyatt knew this because it was one of the first bills he discovered other him was paying that he had never seen before. The floor plan was open and the living room led to a rather large dining room and from there was a doorway to the kitchen.

The kitchen was the only room in the apartment that felt designed for Wyatt. It was full of dark rich woods and granite counter tops with plenty of space for cooking, which they both knew Lucy didn't do. There was however a wine rack built into the kitchen cabinets.

Lucy, though, headed straight for the bay of windows on the far wall, complete with a window seat. There was a small stack of books leaned in the window sill. He had studied them before and they were books he never remembered owning, but he didn't think much of it. He watched Lucy gingerly pick up one with a tattered red cover. He noticed her hand trembling and was immediately concerned.

"Lucy?" He asked as he crossed the room to her.

"This...this is Anne of Green Gables," Lucy replied as she held the book up to him.

"Okay," he said with a confused furrowed brow.

"This is _my copy_ of Anne of Green Gables. I know because my mother made me do a summer book report on it as a kid and I underlined my favorite parts," she said as she flipped through the pages and stopped on one with a sloppy pen mark that was meant to underline. It was crooked and careless, like the mark of a child. "Wyatt, why is my copy of Anne of Green Gables in your apartment?"

It was a fair question, and one he didn't have an answer to.

"I don't know, Lucy, it's been here the whole time I've been here," he answered.

Though it did confirm his theory that other Wyatt was waiting for Lucy just like he was. Why else would he have kept something like that out in the open?

"This place is...it's _beautiful_," Lucy said as she looked around again, this time in awe. "Other you had excellent taste."

He laughed and pretended to be offended. "Are you saying that I don't have excellent taste?"

"You saw your last apartment, right?" Lucy asked him with a teasing grin.

"Hey, It had a bed, a shower, and a kitchen. That was all I needed."

"I see what you meant earlier though," Lucy said as she ran a hand across the back of the plush couch. "This feels more like a _home _than an apartment. He was definitely wanting to build a life with _someone_ here. Maybe Jessica?"

He quirked a brow at her and shook his head. "With your copy of a favorite childhood book on the windowsill?" He asked with a disbelieving look. "Come on, Professor, you know as well as I do what that most likely means."

"That could mean anything," she said with a shrug.

Right. Sure it could, he thought as he scoffed out loud.

He chuckled at her. "Now, now. I'm the one who lies to myself. Not you. But fine, if that doesn't convince you, let me show you the office."

"The..._office_?" Lucy asked. "You have an office?"

He didn't answer her. Instead, he took her hand and led her down the hall toward the three bedrooms, guest bath, and the office. He opened the first door on the right and pulled her inside behind him. The office had a wall of windows on the far side of the room and the wall to their right was covered in empty built in bookshelves. The office was the same light shade of blue as the living room with an antique looking desk sitting against the empty blue wall. The desk was a rounded kidney shape, with drawers up and down the sides and one drawer in the middle. It was not a desk Wyatt would use for himself. He preferred something much simpler. One drawer was literally all he needed.

"Wow," Lucy whispered on an exhale. "There's a window seat," she said as she motioned to the wall of window with a built in bench seat. "This is...I used to _dream_ of having an at home office like this. Oh my god."

Wyatt smirked at her as she turned to meet his eyes. "Told you. Other Wyatt was as invested in the two of us as I am. I'm telling you, this apartment was intended for _both_ of us."

"Seriously, is it possible to be turned on by a _room_? Because this is everything I've ever wanted in an at home work space."

He laughed. Jesus, he loved her. "Would you like me to leave the two of you alone?"

"No," she said with a grin as she wrapped her arms around his chest and pulled herself against him. Her lips were almost touching his as she continued in a sultry tone. "I'd _like you_ to show me the bedroom."

He smiled wickedly at her and nodded. "Which one? There's three."

"Well, if you're right and this is place is meant for you _and _me then I suppose I'd like to see the one you've decided is _ours_."

_Ours_. Theirs together. The implication of joint ownership of a space thrilled him unlike anything before. Unlike the adrenaline of a dangerous mission or speeding across the Mexican border. He felt a rush of comfort and relief at the idea everything that came with shared space. Seeing her every morning, going to bed with her every night, never having to drive away from her in the moonlight ever again, having a safe place to be as openly affectionate with her as he wanted…

Yes, he decided, _ours_ was his new favorite word.

They kept their arms around each other as they walked. He led her to the end of the hall, to the master bedroom. It had its own bath and a walk in closet. None of the apartment was really decorated yet. Through the bills piled in his kitchen, both paid and unpaid, he had learned that he had only moved in a month ago. Maybe there hadn't been time. Maybe he was planning to let Lucy do that. He didn't know. The walls were bare and the bedding was basic, which was fine with him.

"You really need to hire a decorator," Lucy said with a teasing laugh.

"Nah, I think I'll just save that job for you," Wyatt told her with a wink. "You can decorate when you move in, how's that?"

She took in a sharp breath and swallowed thickly. "Are you serious?"

"Only if you want to," Wyatt said with a small sheepish grin. Should he have sprung that on her like that? Or said it like it was a foregone conclusion? Probably not, right? He was certain he went about that all wrong, especially when silence stretched out between them for a long painful moment.

He was replaying the words in his head and berating himself for assuming instead of asking when suddenly Lucy jumped. She jumped into his arms with a force that actually caused him to lose his footing. Luckily for them, the bed caught their fall.


	7. Sacred New Beginnings

**A/N: **This is the first cut scene I've had in a while. I do have something from AoP but I'm saving it in case I use it in the sequel. This, however, is from the one shot I posted today called Sacred New Beginnings. If you haven't read it yet then don't read this, lol.

Happy reading!

angellwings

PS - no proof reading has occurred here since this is not intended to be a finished product

* * *

_Sacred New Beginnings_

_First Attempt_

_Explanation: _First, let me say this. I had no plan for this one shot. I decided when I wanted to place it in the timeline and was confident in my first sentence, but was aimlessly writing the rest. It got away from me. Suddenly, it was going places I did not want this story to go. The main focus of this one was supposed to be Lucy and Wyatt leaving the bunker and too many big things were happening inside the bunker. It didn't feel right and as I kept writing it bothered me more and more. So, while I don't dislike what I wrote here, it wasn't right for the vibe of this one shot and didn't fit the overall arch I have in mind for the "(You Are) What You Love" series. Hopefully, you guys will enjoy this look at what might have been.

* * *

By 0900 hours on Christmas Day his Army duffel is packed with anything he doesn't want to leave behind. He thought packing up several months of his life would be more difficult. But all the decisions he had to make were surprisingly easy.

Anything he can buy that's ten dollars or less or anything he'd rather forget stays behind. (Toiletries, black "Colonel Sanders" tie, the fob he'd picked up at that Rittenhouse warehouse. Though that last item probably needed to be handed over to Christopher.) Any clothing items he can't replace or has an emotional attachment to get packed first. (Blue flannel, red not-at-all vintage Old Navy jacket, a set of old Army sweats.)

Followed by anything in the lockbox under the bed. In his timeline, he'd stashed the few valuables he still had inside of it (Jim Bowie's knife, his grandfather's watch, social security card, his extra side arm) and that was all still there. It wasn't a _missing_ item that made him pause when he opened the box. It was an _additional_ item.

A small, round, blue velvet box with a metal button clasp. A bit of masking tape was stuck to the bottom of it with 1919 scrawled across it in his own messy penmanship. He pressed the metal clasp and box sprung open — revealing a flat round diamond solitaire on a gold setting.

He'd barely had time to recognize it as an engagement ring before he heard Lucy's voice in the hall and scrambled to hide it in _any_ compartment of his duffle.

Apparently, other timeline Lucy and Wyatt were _lightyears_ ahead of the two of them. Yeah, okay, his future is with Lucy. He has no doubt about that but now is not the time for a proposal. It's going to be hard enough for them while they transition back into the real world. They need to get back on their feet first.

Besides that, Lucy has just lost her mother and, on some level, Amy too. Not to mention Flynn. Even _he's _still dealing with some heavy shit. Jessica may be gone but the scar tissue of what she did to him remained. This is _not_ the time for a proposal.

But he'll put the ring away somewhere safe until it _is_ time. It's a beautiful ring. The cut of the stone and the setting both scream Lucy Preston.

He forces himself to stop staring at the pocket he'd zipped the ring into. She'll notice if he doesn't. He looks across the bed at Lucy as she's packing her own paisley printed duffle.

She's barely even folding clothes before throwing them in. Every item she packs is haphazardly dropped into her duffle. Her toiletries aren't even in a plastic bag. They're just tossed in the open side pocket with a couple of notebooks. What is she going to do if her shampoo leaks? Those notebooks will be ruined.

She quirks a brow at him when she notices him staring and grins. "Something you'd like to say, Master Sergeant?"

Even he knows better than to fall into that trap. "No. Not a thing."

She snickers softly at him and shakes her head. "We can't all pack like well trained soldiers."

He smirks and nods toward her bag. "Obviously."

She turns around to grab a pile of clothes folded and stacked in one of the make-shift cubbies on the wall and causes a smaller object to clatter against the floor when she does. It's another jewelry box. This one bigger and wider as if for a necklace. Lucy's brow furrows as she opens it.

"Oh my god," she says, fumbling with the box and almost dropping it. Her hand reaches up to swipe at the corners of her eyes. He steps around the bed quicker than should be possible.

"What is it? Are you okay?"

She turns the box so he can see. He instantly understands.

"I—It's my locket. I never thought I'd see it again. I gave it away in Chinatown, but I guess since we…"

"Never went to Chinatown," Wyatt finishes for her. "You never gave it away."

She sniffles and nods then pulls a trinket box out of the front pocket of the duffle. "I saved the pictures. I can put them back in. God, I am so relieved, Wyatt. I've regretted it ever since. Moving on from Amy doesn't mean I can't keep a piece of her with me."

He stands next to her with a supportive hand on the small of her back as she places pictures in the locket with shaky hands. She clasps the locket shut and when she does he places a hand over hers.

"Here," he says. "Let me."

He takes the chain from her and slips it around her neck, careful to move her hair from underneath it.

Her hand fists around the locket and holds it for a long emotional moment.

He lets her process everything for a moment. He starts helping her pack by gathering her belongings from around the room and setting them on the bed.

The quiet is comfortable and when she's ready she starts packing again. He watches her and thinks there is no way all of that is going to fit in her duffle.

She pats the locket again and sighs happily. "Our string of good luck continues. Congratulations on the transfer, by the way. Told you it would work out."

"Everything does seem to be coming together," Wyatt says warily. "But let's not jinx it by getting cocky."

"Still waiting for the other shoe to drop?" She asks knowingly.

"I feel like I will _always_ be waiting for the other shoe to drop," he admits.


End file.
